Three months ago, I closed my blog with a wishful prediction: the audio work for my upcoming collection “These Stories Are True” would be complete before the next blog was written. The last thing I wanted to do was have this task before me as the beautiful, mild and blue-hued days of fall would once again greet those of us lucky enough to have survived another Martha’s Vineyard summer season. These are supposed to be the moments to exhale; the money has hopefully been made, the obligations met, with bones and psyches still intact. We “Wash-Ashore” Vineyarders deserve a few weeks of glorious downtime.
Some are able to keep the serenity going until the following Memorial Day, when the nonstop carnival begins to gear up again. Maybe I belong to this group. For the past few years, I’ve been content to watch my savings slip away while pretending to be a working writer/musician holed up in a NYC studio apartment. The results, I’m glad to say, for me have been worth the investment. More than likely, I’ll be giving myself some time off from real work again soon.
In any case, my rosy forecast did not materialize. In fact, from mid-July till Labor Day, no recording or editing progress took place at all. But I’ve got to give myself a break. July and August on Martha’s Vineyard is an extremely hectic time.
So yes; this blog post will be short one. I’m now committed to handing over the completed audio to website genius Kyle by the end of October.
Vacation time is over.
But a few random thoughts first…
Thank God they’re finally getting the spine to initiate impeachment hearings against Trump! Could this possibly be the Return-to-Championship year for my New York Yankees? Man, that “Once Upon a Time… in Hollywood” movie was great; in fact, I’ve already seen it twice. Finally ran into Bill Murray at a club in Oak Bluffs; after having seen Larry David earlier in the season, there aren’t too many more left on my wish list. Lots of nice responses to my monthly emails have been coming in, especially since I’ve been suggesting original songs for people to check out. Seeing “Jaws” in one of those small Martha’s Vineyard movie theaters was every bit as fun as I’d imagined and maybe even worth the wait - the idea first came to my head in 1993. Those “Black Dog” tee shirts can be seen all over Central Part, but for me, I still prefer eating at their original tavern. Someone yelled out “the Walking Man!” to me the other morning as I began another 4-mile stroll; will these James-Taylor-Moments never end? I’ve found myself listening a bit to my songs lately too; I’m glad I wrote them. When will I start writing fiction again? I have a few ideas…. A man acknowledges his good fortune at acquiring a bartending job where he’s allowed to set his own hours and celebrates by never working again. I’d try to base the lead character on someone I know…
And OK - there are still probably lots of other celebrity-sightings on my wish list.
And if any of you can ever make it to the Vineyard in late September - especially when we’ve been blessed with the great weather of the past few days - please - do yourselves a favor and go!
OK. I’m ready now. Let’s see how many words I can mispronounce over-and-over again on this next essay. Who knows - maybe I’ve become a natural, with the dormant skill I was developing somehow blossoming while the past two months silently slipped away. Unlikely, I’m sure - but possible…
I’m actually becoming a bit more excited to resume this thing…
Here we go…